Month: February 2016

A small farm town called Zion, Indiana is the home to the seemingly uneventful lives of a small population. Fields of crops waiting for rainfall are plastered over the town’s landscape. Farmers wait on fourteen year-old Buddy Layman’s intuition on where water is underground or when a storm is coming. This is Zion’s routine leading up to the first scenes of The Diviners.

The Diviners, written by Jim Leonard Jr., was originally published in 1980 and has been performed by college, high school, and professional production companies to give audiences this “slice of life” play. The play focuses on Buddy Layman, a fourteen year-old boy who had a drowning scare that resulted in brain damage and the loss of his mother at a young age, and C.C. Showers, a man who was a preacher but left his work to find something else in life during The Great Depression Era.

Shane Rilat and Anthony Guardado portrayed Buddy Layman and C.C. Showers in Chapin High School’s production of The Diviners. They both portrayed their characters to a T and never let their character leave the stage when it was someone else’s turn at the spotlight.

Rilat, as Buddy, was as playful and genuine as his character was meant to be and managed to tug at the audience’s heartstrings with his naive comments and trusting way. He also managed to draw attention in the background of scenes where his movements and facial expressions did all the talking.

Guardado, as C.C. Showers, easily portrayed an easy-talking preacher from Kentucky trying to find his way in Depression-era America. He took control of scenes where he portrayed power or anger but also was able to convey emotion and a gentle demeanor. His use of a southern accent added to how genuine his portrayal was and really brought any audience member into the setting and the story.

Supporting Rilat and Guardado were a whole cast of interesting small-town characters. Sabrina Hill, as Jennie Layman was extremely successful at portraying the concerned and loving older sister to Buddy. Sirius Del Castillo, as Dewey Maples, and Kevin Vargas, as Melvin Wilder delivered the comedic relief needed in the dramatic and heart wrenching play with their dancing and concern for their lives as teenagers and wonder about girls.

The cast definitely showed the heart and love needed for this drama. The sound and light technicians had perfect timing to take you in and out of each scene and each emotion. Their talents were perfectly portrayed in the show’s closing scene that projected water onto the stage and slowed down time.

Chapin’s The Diviners was riveting, heartfelt, and touching. The audience was brought into the small town of Zion and understood the pain of losing so much in the Depression, including the town’s only treasure.

by Gabriela Macias of Loretto Academy

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What comes to mind when you think of the 30s? Probably not a small Indiana town, a boy’s fear of water, and a disillusioned ex-preacher. In Chapin High School’s recent performance of The Diviners, the actors take the many themes of this performance to a new level.

The Diviners begins by following a man, C.C. Showers (played by Anthony Guardado) to the doorstep of Ferris Layman (played by Carlos Nunez) and his two kids, Buddy (Shane Rilat) and Jennie (Sabrina Hill). Throughout the play, you learn the story of the curious Buddy, the 14 year old who nearly drowned when he was younger but was saved by his mother who in turn died from drowning. The story follows the lives of these people as they try to help the odd Buddy with his ringworm rashes and his fear of water.

The actor, Shane Rilat, who played Buddy, was excellent with his voice, body language and facial expressions. Rilat made the character of Buddy come alive. He yelled, he screamed, he even kept up the movements of scratching his rashes throughout the play. His constant jitters kept the attention on Rilat’s character whenever he was on stage. Jennie, played by Sabrina Hill, had her own kind of energy. Her movements and voice screamed, “Adult actions in a teenage body!” Hill’s idea of a 16 year old girl from the 1930s was clear to the audience. Lastly, Anthony Guardado who played C. C. Showers gave a shocking performance, only because he did so well in portraying a 30 year old ex-preacher. He had the likeness and calm exterior of a preacher. Although that is only some, all these actors deserve their own praises.

The lights and sound were minimal, but did not hinder the performance in any way. The idea of the lights for the lake added to the setting. The sound cues were timely and weren’t distracting from the actions on stage. Once the play climaxed, it was the light technicians’ (Aolanis Justino, Patricia Covarrubias) time to shine; the shifting from above the water to under it was extremely smooth.

This play messed with your heartstrings and the actors didn’t help in this area. They did such an amazing job I’m sure there were some teary-eyed audience members by the end of it. Every one of the students involved in this play contributed to the bittersweet ending of The Diviners.

Cappies

The El Paso Cappies Blog is here to provide information about high school theater in El Paso. We will be providing reviews of shows past and previews of shows to come. Most of our content will be student generated.